


Imaginary Childhood Sweethearts

by idinathoreau



Series: My Childhood Would Have Been SOOO Different With You In It [4]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Childhood Memories, F/F, First Kiss, Flirting, Get Together, Holtzbert - Freeform, Imaginings, birder!Holtz, hypothetical childhood, pining!Erin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8709208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idinathoreau/pseuds/idinathoreau
Summary: Erin and Holtz have a little talk after sharing their stories and consider: what if they had all met in high school?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Summary is terrible...this is basically an epilogue to make good on the promise of Holtzbert. 
> 
> Warning: birder!Holtz strikes again! I went full bird-nerd on this one…I WILL NEVER APPOLOGIZE FOR BIRDS!

The sun was setting over the skyline of Manhattan. The cold grey steel of the buildings glinted in the orange light, making Holtzmann squint. She’d pulled her goggles off in favor of seeing the sunset but her eyes were reminding her that she couldn’t look for long.

Holtz leaned against the roof ledge, thinking about what this day had held: the stories, the tears, Erin stroking her hand softly, a hug that felt like coming home…

“Don’t jump.”

The engineer smirked. “As if, Gilbert…” she said, turning to face the physicist. “I’d never risk upsetting you so.” She flapped the tails of her lab coat dramatically. “This has built-in wings!” She declared.

Erin let out an awkward laugh. “I know…I was kidding.” She walked up next to Holtzmann, taking in the view. 

“What’s that?”She asked, pointing at what the engineer was holding. 

Holtz showed her. 

“Binoculars…” Erin sounded impressed. “What do they do?”

“They make far-away objects appear closer.” Holtz deadpanned, winking at the physicist. 

“...oh…right.”

“I dug them out this afternoon…” Holtz admitted, tracing the edge of the focus dial with the tip of a finger. “I’d completely forgotten about them. I sprung for a new pair after I landed my doctorate work. But I hardly got to use them…too busy in the lab. Now that things are quieting down again I thought I might pick up the hobby again.”

“What bird is your favorite?” Erin asked, leaning on the ledge alongside her, their shoulders nearly touching but not quite.

“King-of-Saxony Bird-of-paradise.” Holtz replied immediately. 

“Oh…” Holtz could tell Erin had no idea what that was. “Why’s that?”

Holtz turned to her, her eyes shining. “It has two incredibly long ornamental head plumes that it can whip back and forth.” She explained, flapping her hands by the sides of her head. “And the sounds it makes are out of this world!”

Erin seemed enthralled. Or maybe it was just Holtzmann’s enthusiasm rubbing off on her. “Wow. You’ll have to show me that.”

Holtz grinned. “Too bad they only live in New Guinea. But I can show you video.”

“That would be great.” Erin paused, shifting her weight back and forth. “and maybe…maybe you could take me bird-watching sometime.”

Holtzmann smiled, finding it adorable that Erin still called it ‘bird watching’. “yeah… I’d like that.”

Comfortable silence fell between the two of them. Holtzmann turned back to the skyline, watching for the silhouettes of pigeons and sparrows as the last of the light faded from the city. She really did miss wandering through forests looking for warblers and kinglets. Maybe she would take Erin out of the city to introduce her to her favorite birds…

“Holtz…” Erin began timidly.

Holtz leaned closer to her, looking at her sideways. “hmmm?” Their shoulders bumped.

Erin wrung her hands. “I…really wanted you to know…I’m glad you told us that story today.”

Holtz smirked. “Why? Glad to know I wasn’t always a rockin’ lesbian?”

It was rather hilarious how quickly she could get Erin to blush. Her record was 3.4 seconds by her last count. “Uhhh…” The physicist waved her hands. “No…I just…you’re a fascinating person Holtzmann.” Erin admitted, her blush settling in a faint line across her cheeks. “And you so rarely share things so intimate like that. So it was…good to hear.” 

Holtz brushed her hair back so it hung unevenly across her face. “I prefer quirky, but I’ll count fascinating as a win coming from you…” She smirked devilishly. “Miss Yam.”

Erin colored immediately, groaning. “…I’m never going to live this down am I?”

The engineer pushed her hair back to the side. “Nope.” Holtz crossed the roof to the lawn chairs they’d dragged out earlier and placed her binoculars down with infinite care. “But if I’d been there…whew boooy, I would have had wayyy too much fun with squash puns after that.”

Erin scowled adorably. “Yeah I bet you would have…” She bit her lip. “Really makes you think about what Patty said…” Erin continued, turning around so she could face Holtz.

“About what?”

“About how different our lives would have been. If we’d all been friends as kids.” Erin smiled fondly. “Abby changed my life…” 

After everything she’d heard last night, Holtz knew just how much Erin and Abby meant to each other. She didn’t want to think about how Erin might have ended up if Abby hadn’t come into her life when she had. 

“Do you think we would have been friends?” Erin asked. “If we’d met in high school?”

“Yes.” Holtz answered immediately.

“Really? What makes you so certain?”

Holtz shrugged. “Abby and I would have connected. You and her would have connected. By the transitive property, we would have been friends.”

Erin had to laugh. “I cant argue with that…” She admitted.

“And you know Patty would have fallen in with us eventually if she had ever moved there.” Holtz continued. “We would have been the Ghost Chasers of Battle Creek High!” Holtz declared. “Old Man Tucker wouldn’t have stood a chance against my prototype proton gun made from plumbing pipes, a stolen harddrive, and the cafeteria mystery meat!”

Erin was full-on laughing now, her head thrown back and her chest heaving. Holtz would have found it gorgeous if she hadn’t been concerned that Erin might accidentally fall over the edge from their mirth.

“Holtz…you’re too much.” Erin finally managed to choke out. “That sounds like it would have been perfect.”

Holtzmann had to agree. She could picture it just as if it had actually happened: four young teens taking on ghosts, grades, puberty, and first crushes…

Holtz frowned slightly. “Then again…how progressive was your town?”

Erin shrugged. “My parents were strict Baptists and Abby and I were pretty much the only ones who believed in ghosts, gays, and the theory of evolution.”

The engineer stoked the set of binoculars next to her. Her mirth had faded. “…yeah I probably would have run away in that case…”

“Really?” Erin sounded hurt, as if this hypothetical reality had actual consequences. “Even with Abby and Patty and me as your friends?”

Holtz found she couldn’t look at her. “Well…it was…incredibly alienating.” She admitted. She normally wasn’t one to consider what was pity-inducing about her sexuality; she much preferred to celebrate what made her different. But thinking about her family, about those lonely years on her own…it was difficult.

“Knowing something like that about yourself and just having your entire family tell you it’s false. To have your parents telling you you’re wrong, that you cant possibly live your life like that.” Her grip tightened on the binoculars. “It nearly broke me…to suddenly realize I either had to be what they demanded or be alone. If…if I’d stayed there, part of me would have died.” 

It was only once Holtz finished speaking that she realized Erin probably understood exactly how that felt. “Ghost Girl” carried its own pain and burden.

Erin crossed the roof, her footsteps making no noise on the cement. When she reached Holtzmann, she extended a tentative hand and touched Holtz’s shoulder. The engineer shivered slightly but she didn’t think Erin could tell.

“You wouldn’t have been alone if we’d been friends.” Erin assured her in a soft voice. “Abby and Patty and I would have all been there. You wouldn’t have needed to run.”

Holtzmann stood up, dislodging Erin’s hand. “Really? Young miss Gilbert from middle-of-south-central Michigan would have completely accepted having a flamboyant gay friend in high school while juggling the mantle of ‘Ghost Girl’?” Holtz hadn’t meant it to come out so challenging. But she had to know. This was all too much. 

Erin hesitated before answering. “…if…in this hypothetical childhood, you had meant as much to me then as you do now…” She took a deep breath and looked Holtzmann right in the eye. “I would have found the courage to stand with you. I might have faltered occasionally…but I wouldn’t have let you be alone. Ever.”

Holtz felt her lower lip tremble. It was on her now. Everything was pointing in the right direction. She just had to let herself fall…and trust that Erin would catch her. Before she could second-guess the words they had shared, she reached for Erin and found that the physicist was all too eager to meet her in the middle.

They collided like atoms and the force was cataclysmic. Mostly because Holtz had only managed to smash their foreheads together instead of the dramatic first kiss she was picturing.

“Oww…” Erin winced, tears pricking her eyes but she didn’t jerk back. Instead they stayed, forehead to forehead, chuckling in pain and companionship. 

“Sorry…” Holtz apologized, gently brushing a strand of hair behind Erin’s ear. “Did not mean to do that…did I hurt you?”

Erin stared into her eyes, something in her gaze erasing all the lingering pain from the head bump. They were closer than they’d ever been. Holtz could feel their breath mingling between them. The proximity and sheer intimacy of this set butterflies dancing in her stomach and if a rare tropical bird had landed on the roof at that moment, she would not have noticed or cared.

All there was, was Erin. 

Erin smiled at her, her gaze softening. She ran gentle fingers over the strong lines of Holtzmann’s cheekbones, sending a stronger shiver through the engineer. “No.”

The physicist leaned in and the engineer was all too happy to reciprocate. She pulled Erin close and lost herself completely in her.

***

On the stairwell, Patty handed Abby ten dollars. 

“It’s still cheating.” The historian argued in a low voice. “You’ve known Erin far longer than I have.”

Abby smirked. “Yeah, and Holtzmann too.” She pocketed the cash with a wink. “Never bet against such odds, Patty.” She waved the other woman back down the stairs. “Come on, let’s give them some privacy. I think they’ve earned it.”


End file.
